Mother Slaps, Smothers 1-Month-Old In Video Shared To Make Estranged Husband Guilty

A 22-year-old woman was detained by police in central China after a video she posted online, showed her physically abusing her one-month-old daughter, reports said Monday. The mother from Hengyang in Hunan province, identified only by her last name Wei, filmed herself slapping her baby daughter repeatedly and trying to smother her.

During questioning, Wei told officers she was feeling lonely and had hoped the video would make her estranged husband feel guilty about deserting her and he would repent and come home, Daily Mail reported.

The video allegedly shows the mother slapping her crying infant 15 times in ten seconds before covering the baby’s entire face with her hand in order to stop her cries, the Sun reported.

"Due to her husband's absence at home, Wei felt very lonely and used her cell phone to film herself hitting her daughter's face. She also used her hand to cover her daughter's nose and mouth," according to a statement released by Hengyang district police. "Wei posted the video on social media in hopes that it will force her husband, Liu, to return home.The child meanwhile is unhurt."

The video, went viral after it was posted online Saturday and sparked outrage among social media users. However, some users also showed some sympathy toward the woman's condition.

"While spanking her daughter is no doubt incorrect, the husband should also be investigated in the incident. The father should be equally responsible for the child," one net user commented on Chinese microblogging site Weibo. Another said: "Poor baby, you did nothing wrong and didn't deserve this."

A third user wrote: "What is the father doing, not being at home at three in the morning? Both are irresponsible parents."

Police said the baby is currently in a healthy condition and remains in the care of her grandmother.

The mother was given a five-day detention penalty and is now receiving counseling provided by the Public Security Bureau in China.

In another incident that took place last month in Nasi in Qingnan, a city in southern China's Guangxi Province, a woman was seen aggressively slapping her five-month-old child in a video that was widely circulated on Chinese social media sites.

The incident happened on Christmas Day when the accused was feeding porridge to the child, sitting in front of her neighbor’s house. A witness caught the mother holding the baby with her left hand as she aggressively smacked him with the right hand. Police were informed about the incident, and during questioning, the woman said she was only trying to stop her baby from crying when she was feeding him and as a punishment, was hitting him and that she regretted her behavior.